Have Courage to Be Kind

In our country today it can be easy to forget, or hard to believe, that most people are good. Most people are kind.

But the truth is every day we are shown small, tiny kindnesses. I think it’s because they are small we easily discount them, but they do. How often in the grocery store do you smile at someone, say excuse me, or help someone reach something on a higher shelf? (Or if you are not as tall as me, you receive the help from another Amazon woman.) When at the park or walking around your neighborhood, most of us routinely greet our neighbors as they pass by.

These are in their own way random acts of kindness. You are letting these people know that you see them and that they deserve being acknowledged. We all do.

I’ve been thinking about these things lately so I think it’s part of why this story I am about to tell you happened at all. I was at the park yesterday walking and I came to a street crossing and a woman standing next to her bike. Normally, I would have said hello and continued on but something made me ask if she was OK.

She said, yes, but that she had a flat tire on her bike and her husband was at the airport to catch a flight for a business trip. She had called a few friends and nobody had responded as of yet. So I told her I was headed to my car about a mile away and I was happy to drive her home. She seemed friendly enough plus I figured I could outrun her if need-be in her funky clip-on biking shoes.

So we walked back to my car chatting about our walking and cycling. We easily slid her bike into the back of my car and in about 10 minutes we arrived at her house. She was appreciative and it was no real effort on my part to get her home more quickly.

As I drove down her street toward my own house I glanced down at a new water bottle sitting in the drink holder. It says, “Have Courage to Be Kind.” I don’t really think what I did was courageous but it was kind.

Most people are good. Most people are kind. And remember that includes you.